Modified Monster

Daring to be different in Danbury's arena of speed

Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines

"Mommy, Daddy brought home a broken car!" That's what Jim Torok's daughter said the first time she got a look at the neglected Buick modified racer that had once been campaigned by Lou Funk Sr.
Funk, a member of Southern New York Racing Association since its 1952 inception, competed at the old Danbury Racearena in Connecticut before an unfortunate series of events turned the facility into a shopping mall after the 1981 season. He, along with his fellow combatants, pitted their homebuilt racing creations against each other every weekend.
Danbury was historically a Ford track, meaning 24 of the 25 cars that started a feature were modified Fords, with an occasional Chevy. Though never officially confirmed, rumor has it that a bet was offered to Funk, "Can't beat a Ford at Danbury unless you're in a Ford." Whatever the phrase, or bet, Funk took the challenge just to prove them wrong. He built a Buick, in fact, he built three of them.
"Danbury was a tough place. The fences were made of wood, and there was always a spectacular crash. Most cars would only last a season or two, then they would be pushed into the back lot and the teams would start over," according to Torok, current caretaker of the Funk Buick, and himself a former racer. "This one is the third Buick that Funk raced before he switched to a Chassis Dynamics car--a Gremlin--not long after."
The Buick is, like most modifieds of the day, a creation not unlike Frankenstein's monster. Funk started with a 1937 Buick coupe, but utilized a 1949 Roadmaster straight-eight because it contained inserted bearings. Mated to the block was a Chevy three-speed manual, and a Franklin quick-change rear placed the power to the pavement. The suspension was also cobbled together. Up front featured a Flemke front end--a Ford axle with two perpendicular leaf springs--and two parallel leaf springs reside at the aft end. Enabling fine-tuning of the suspension, two jacking bolts sit atop the front leaf springs. "All the weight is up front, and if they are not adjusted right, the back end will want to pass the front end in the corner. It's a real handful," laughs Torok. "The other guys complained because Buick at one time had a dual-carburetor intake, so Funk used a Motorcraft two-barrel attached to a stock Buick single-carburetor intake. The exhaust was homemade." Funk used drum brakes from 1959-'60 Buicks because of their larger shoe width. "They all used them. The cars wouldn't stop without them."
Funk did the seemingly impossible in July of 1970 when he took a feature win in this Buick. It was only one of his 65 overall wins at the track, placing him 9th on Danbury's all-time win list. Funk also earned his best career points finish in 1970, placing 8th overall at season end, during the track's pavement years.
Torok, who drove from 1972-'81, first became interested in vintage racing during a trip to Hershey in 1978. "Having known the Funk family--both father and son drove--I called the son upon my return home, who gave me his father's number in Florida; he had retired from racing in the late-1970s. He wasn't quite sure what I was planning to do with the old car, but he said I could have the Buick," remembers Torok. "When he arrived from Florida in May, we used a backhoe to get the car on the trailer. He gave me the car, but I had to pay him $1,000 for the rear end and brakes."
The restoration took nine years to complete. "I usually only had an hour or two at a time to work on it. Once I found a new block, we couldn't get the three-speed to mate. It turns out Funk shaved the Chevy flywheel, then built an adapter plate to get it to work. We must have gone through two or three aluminum flywheels to get it right. Then we couldn't get the Chevy starter attached. Funk would cut a groove into the casing until just about all the metal was shaved off, then grind the block."
When it came to the paint, Funk provided the answer. "We couldn't figure it out, until he told me that he used to buy it from a shop in town; it was a can of Rust-Oleum. I went to the shop, and in one corner of the basement was a single can. We had it matched so that we could use lacquer."
Funk did see the completed car before his passing in 2001. "We were at a New England Antique Racers banquet at the end of the year. The car was out front and he just had to hear it one more time. When I fired it off, you could see the gleam in his eye. After a while, he commented on how good the paint came out, saying that he used to put it on with a brush," laughs Torok. "When he passed away, his daughter called me, requesting that I bring the Buick to his wake. It was an unusual request, but I had to do it. Needless to say, a lot of people arrived, many who remembered the car but had missed his passing in the paper."
Today, Torok doesn't use the Funk Buick as much as he used to in N.E.A.R. events, instead using another vintage racer. "The speeds have really gone up, and being on the organization's safety committee, I prefer to keep it in the condition it's in. I love taking it to Hershey; it receives a lot of attention from people, a few of whom still remember Lou Funk."
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This article originally appeared in the February, 2007 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.